Naxos Books: 72 books

This bold undertaking covers Western theatre from ancient Greece to the present day. It traces the development of dramatic art through the miracle plays, the great Shakespearean period, Molière and Racine in France, Goethe in Germany, through the nineteenth century and the main movements in the twentieth...

In this entertaining anthology of seven new ghost stories, written especially for Naxos AudioBooks, we meet all kinds of phantoms in different situations: a kind-hearted but accident-prone spectre unwittingly upsetting a family home, as well as ghosts in ancient Egypt, on board a pirate ship, and in...

Dantes Hell is one of the most remarkable visions in Western literature. An allegory for his and future ages, it is, at the same time, an account of terrifying realism. Passing under a lintel emblazoned with these frightening words, the poet is led down into the depths by Virgil and shown those doomed...

Here are the stories of nine people whose energy, inspiration, courage and determination changed the world. From Christopher Columbus, who set off into unknown seas in a small ship in the 15th century, to a young girl, Anne Frank, caught in the turmoil of the 20th, who wrote a remarkable diary while...

The four Gospels are the source material for this sympathetic account of the life of Jesus, from the traditional story of his birth, to his death and resurrection. All the principle episodes are covered the baptism, the Sermon on the Mount, the Last Supper, the trial, and the crucifixion as well as...

Chopin is one of the great originals of musical history and among the most universally beloved of all composers. Every one of his compositions involves the piano and his contribution to the development of the instruments potential cannot be underestimated. This biography offers a clear perspective on...

Robert Craft was co-conductor, companion and confidant to Igor Stravinsky for the last two decades of the composers life, an intimate working relationship that is unique in musical history. Now, in his ninetieth year, Craft has produced a book of astonishing freshness, warmth and wit as he surveys through...

Robert Craft met Stravinsky by invitation in 1948, after nearly four years of letter correspondence with the composer. It was this close association that steered Craft into a stimulating world of leading composers, writers and artists. At virtually the same time that he became a member of the Stravinsky...

Puccini is one of the most beloved of all opera composers La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot play to packed opera houses the world over. In his lifetime he achieved an international celebrity accorded to only a few, yet the critics were rarely impressed. He was nevertheless a creative...

What is art? Why do we value images of saints, kings, goddesses, battles, landscapes or cities in eras utterly remote from our own? This history of art shows how painters, sculptors and architects have expressed the belief systems of their age religious, political and aesthetic. From the ancient civilisations...

Grandiose and glamorous, Baroque music stands alone, written to glorify the finest courts of Europe, in Italy, France, Germany, England, Austria and even far flung Spain. Its greatest composers, such as Vivaldi, Handel and Bach, head a fascinating cast of musical magicians, including Albinoni, Pachelbel...

Robin Hood, one of the great legends of England, lives again in this re-telling of the famous story. Dressed in Lincoln green, with his longbow never far from his hands, he moves through Sherwood Forest righting the wrongs done by the Sheriff of Nottingham, and his evil henchman, Guy of Guisborne. Little...

The story of British classical music extends over more than a thousand years. A distinctive national tone was identifiable already in medieval times, and in the fifteenth century Dunstable was a leading international figure. The Renaissance saw the emergence of great composers such as Tallis, Byrd and...

Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular composers who ever lived. He is also one of the most misunderstood, as both man and musician, and looks destined to remain among the most controversial. Widely misrepresented as an emotional voluptuary and typecast as a crazy Russian genius, he was, in fact, a highly...